Lowering myself into steep gorges on handsful of bush lawyer was not really on my mind when I signed on for this trip, but then when you put your name on the fit list it's a bit of a lottery.....
The trip started innocently enough with three carloads of keen trampers heading off to Methven on the Friday night with short stops at Oamaru and Winchester and arriving at Coalminers Flat shortly after ten. We pitched the tents and had a brew or a beer before crawling into our sleeping bags to be lulled to sleep by the sound of the nearby stream.
Our group consisted of Jeff Brown (Trip Leader), Richard Pettinger, Tony Malcolm, Paul Van Kampen, Brian Craig and myself. The forecast rain had so far failed to materialise as we set off for Woolshed Creek Hut around 8 am, favouring the ridge route rather than the longer wetter gorge. Part way up there was a mining reconstruction which would not have looked out of place in a Disneyland theme park, and coal strata could be seen sandwiched among the hillsides, but otherwise it was a fairly pedestrian uphill walk to the hut.
The area around Woolshed Creek is a real gem. We had a snack and then set off on a loop walk of about an hour passing splendid mini?gorges, waterfalls, the Emerald Pool and even a natural hydroslide, all linked by some very new looking aluminium ladders. This is definitely a place I will visit again, but in warm summer conditions perhaps. We arrived back at the hut a few minutes after the medium group arrived, had a quick lunch, and set off on the serious part of the tramp up the ridges to the Winterslow Range, across to Mount Winterslow summit and down to the Pinnacles Hut via Pony Knob (which looked do?able on the map and which, our trip leader cheerfully informed us, we could easily negotiate in the dark with torches if need be).
Brian quickly decided that the slope was too much for him and the prospect of another five hours of the same (or worse!) definitely did not appeal. He set off for Pinnacles Hut along the Mount Somers track over the saddle and both Paul and myself were tempted to go along with him. Instead our party, now five strong, started on the long uphill plod, arriving within a few hours at the high point (1440 m) and turning east along the range. It took us a further two hours or so to reach the next high point of 1625 m, by which time we had long given up on reaching the peak and instead were looking at descending the most convenient ridge and then following a stream out to the river and (hopefully) the hut. We made good going down the ridge and dropped into the stream bed a short while before dusk.
Still our cheerful leader was confident we would be sipping soup in the hut by eight. Negotiating the creek, however, was not so straightforward and we soon encountered a waterfall, which we had to sidle around. I managed to slip down the far side of this and do a twelve foot somersault onto a ledge (what a clod!) The twenty foot drop off the ledge to the rocky stream bed didn't bear thinking about. There followed a two?hour stretch of night walking with treacherous footing followed by a drop into a steep gorge. The going became easier for a short time before we were again faced with difficulties and had to turn back. We found the nearest piece of open ground and began to clear a campsite.
Incredibly, Jeff was now suggesting that we now climb back out of the gorge and continue our search for the hut. This was taking optimism to a fanatical extreme (or fanatamism, as suggested by Robyn Bell) and it was decided by a majority of four to call it a day. Some hot food and, despite the uneven sloping ground, we slept like logs. If there were any snorers in our group we were too far gone to notice. Jeff made a nest out of his pack liner at the bottom of an overhanging cliff with cave crickets above for company, so was sure to sleep with his mouth closed!
Bright and early next morning we were woken by the effervescent Jeff Brown. (Honestly, this guy is so cheerful it's like going tramping with Kermit the Frog!) By daylight it was easy to find a route out of the gorge and we quickly followed the ridge up into open tussock, following fresh deer tracks. We caught sight of the deer as we approached the top of the ridge but they didn't hang around too long. The sun striking the Pinnacles afforded us a magnificent view as well as a clear indication of the hut's location (we wouldn't have seen much at night though!) There was also a great view of Pony Knob shrouded in bluffs and I was grateful we hadn't had to descend that at night! Several ridges and valleys later we met the track and hustled down to Pinnacles Hut. The other group had already left, so we sat around in the glorious sunshine, chatted, ate lunch, desserts and coffee. Well most of us did ? Tony and Paul had a bit of a run up the mountain without packs, then followed on later.
Less then three hours later we were at the road end drinking coffee while the vehicles were shuttled from Coalminers Flat. All things considered, it was a marvellous trip and certainly memorable. At no time did we lose our humour or positive outlook, although we were lucky that it didn't rain! Jeff is a very capable leader, though an incurable optimist.
Terry Duffield.
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